The gluten-free sports routine of Petter Tufte

Petter Tufte is one of world´s best rowing athletes who competes internationally for Norway. On his latest performance he earned a silver medal for the men’s double sculls final in the World Championships 2019. Since 2015, Petter has been living with coeliac disease. Thanks to his positive mindset, tons of training and above all the right gluten-free diet, he has shown that this autoimmune disease is not an obstacle to success, perhaps the opposite.

With great pleasure we managed to get an interview with him! Read more below about his disease progression and how he integrates the gluten-free diet into his sports routine.

How and when did you find out you are suffering from coeliac disease?

I found out in 2015 after a long period with headaches and lack of minerals and vitamins. This affected my training to a degree that I contacted our team doctors. The doctors then took a new blood test to check for signs of celiac disease, and then after a following gastrointestinal exam with which showed positive results for celiac disease I was diagnosed. Hence, I have been living on a gluten-free diet.

Did the change in diet have an impact on your sports performance? If so, in what way?

The changes were a bit difficult in the start, but as soon as I figured out what products and foods I could eat instead it was no longer any problem. Each year that goes by there is more and more products in the shelves to choose from, which makes it a lot easier.

What does your everyday diet look like?

As a national team athlete, I train two or three times a day , with a medium to large meal in between each session. I usually get up at 7AM and eat breakfast of cereals with milk and some jam, and some bread with eggs and ham etc. Then the first session starts at 8AM and with a following meal at 11AM. This is usually bread or oatmeal. Then I proceed with some work or relaxation up until 2PM for my next training session, with some snacks now and then, followed by a larger meal at 5PM. This could be anything from Pasta Bolognese to chicken filet with vegetables and rice. Usually it goes quite a lot of Pasta in our house. In case of third session this comes directly after a light snack/bread at 4PM, and then a full meal at 6PM. Then I relax with my girlfriend or friends for a couple of hours until some late supper at 9.30PM and then I go to bed. That's my life, basically all days all year around.

It’s clear that coeliac disease does not stand in the way of competing on an elite level. Petter will never win over coeliac disease, but his success shows that it should not be seen as an opponent, rather a teammate. As an elite athlete, you eat to train, not the other way around. In other words, the right diet is key to success. Petter’s strong focus on his diet has allowed him to get to know his body even better and even got him where he is today.